As the largest port operator in the UK, with 21 ports across England, Scotland and Wales, Associated British Ports (ABP) is at the forefront of timber-handling operations, working with a wide range of partners across forest products. The company handles around a quarter of the UK’s seaborne trade, worth £157bn and, together with its customers, supports over 200,000 jobs.
The past 12 months have brought about many positive moves for the company, which has not only expanded the scope of its business mission but has also strengthened its senior commercial team. The former relates to the launch of the port operator’s new business strategy, which has added a new mission of ‘Enabling the Energy Transition’, alongside the previous ‘Keeping Britain Trading’, thus formalising ABP’s vital role in enabling customers’ decarbonisation journeys. These are underpinned by a strong commitment to safety, sustainability and our people.
Indeed, ABP’s ports provide essential gateways for trade, enable green infrastructure and catalyse investment and good jobs in coastal communities. These contributions are built on the foundations of safe and resilient operations today, together with embracing innovation and people development to deliver the ports of the future.
A rising number of port customers across all sectors, including timber and forest products, are looking to lower their carbon footprint, and ports are well placed to connect them to the innovation ecosystems they need to help them move forward in this regard. In connection with this, ABP also launched its Energy Ventures Accelerator programme, to help energy transition start-ups scale up. Over the first year of the programme, we spoke to over 200 start-ups and ran a number of innovation days across the UK to help businesses meet.
NEW LEADERSHIP AT WALES AND SHORT SEA PORTS
Earlier this year, ABP announced the appointment of Lex Hanham as head of the Wales and Short Sea Ports (WSSP) division, where she will lead the commercial team across 16 of the company’s ports, serving customers all around England and Scotland and including five ports in South Wales, helping to drive regional growth, attract investment and support local businesses and communities.
The WSSP network of ports plays a vital role in the UK’s economy, handling over 20 million tonnes of cargo annually and covering 5,400 acres of port estate. From Barry to Troon, Plymouth to Ipswich, these ports serve a wide range of sectors including energy, construction, agribulks, steel and offshore wind, and are key enablers of green growth and regional connectivity. They also offer a unique combination of multi-port offerings and bespoke single port solutions.
Ms Hanham brings 17 years of maritime experience to the role, having held senior positions across commercial development, property, and project management at ABP. She takes up the head of commercial role for WSSP having served as business development manager across the ABP group, spearheading complex major projects to grow trade handling capability and to accelerate the UK’s clean energy transition.
“I am delighted to take on this new role and lead a team of talented commercial colleagues across England, Scotland and Wales,” said Ms Hanham. “With access to 16 ports nationwide we are well connected and equipped to offer customers a wealth of cross-sector expertise and opportunities to meet their business needs.
“I look forward to applying lessons from working with a huge variety of customers, not just in freight and logistics but also across energy transition-related sectors and start-ups to help strengthen existing customer relationships and grow our appeal to customers of the future.”
During her time in the business development function, Ms Hanham played a leading role in advancing ABP’s work in relation to accelerating maritime decarbonisation and innovation, focusing on key sectors such as alternative fuels, clean hydrogen and engaging with over 200 clean tech start-ups. Her contribution to the UK’s green economy earned wider industry recognition with her nomination for the prestigious BusinessGreen ‘Woman of the Year 2025’ Award, earlier this year.
Prior to this, Ms Hanham was a senior figure in ABP’s Southampton commercial team, where she worked closely with customers across dry bulks, project cargo, automotive, containerised freight, rail and other key sectors. She will be taking over the helm from Paul Litten, who has been appointed as head of commercial for ABP’s Humber region, which includes four ports and represents the UK’s largest gateway for trade with the world by volume.
FOCUS ON SCOTLAND
Over the past year, ABP has seen an increase in forest products volume through its Ports of Ayr and Troon in Scotland. When it comes to tracing what is influencing this positive trend, one of the probable positive factors is the Irish ban on Scottish imports implemented in September 2024, which has meant the Scottish timber has remained within Scotland.
At the Ports of Ayr and Troon, ABP primarily handles raw timber, ie felled trees. All parts of the trees come through Ayr and Troon as we have nearby factories that make timber frames from logs, paper from pulp, chipboard and wood pellets from fuel wood.
ABP continues to be committed to reaching net zero from its own operations as well as enabling large scale clean energy infrastructure projects that will help build a more sustainable world.
One of the biggest sustainable timber transport success stories has been the TimberLINK project in Scotland, which ABP has supported since 2000. Operated by ABP on behalf of Scottish Forestry since 2000, the timber service plays a vital role in supporting port-centric manufacturing in the area, by reducing logistical supply chain costs for local businesses and strengthening Ayrshire’s timber industry cluster. The service also utilises sustainable marine transport and coastal shipping to reduce logistical supply chain costs.
As part of the service, over 100,000 tonnes of timber and forest products are transported from the ports at Ardrishaig, Campbeltown and Sandbank, to the Ports of Ayr and Troon, where they are dispatched to local wood processing plants. This saves an estimated one million lorry miles per year, relieving road network congestion on the west coast of Scotland, which helps reduce carbon emissions and support the local tourism industry.
Scotland’s forestry sector is estimated to contribute over £1bn to Scotland’s economy every year and supports around 25,000 jobs. ABP is proud to play a role in supporting growth in this vital sector.
